The most extreme agony is to feel that one has been utterly forsaken. Bruno Bettleheim, 1903-1990
Everybody is right up there at the very brink of their pain limit. Martin Amis
For all the happiness mankind can gain
Is not in pleasure but in rest from pain. John Dryden, 1631-1700, The Indian Emperor
There is no greater pain than to remember a happy time when one is miserable. Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321, Divina Commedia Inferno canto 5
Nothing begins, and nothing ends,
That is not paid with moan;
For we are born in other’s pain,
And perish in our own. Francis Thompson, Daisy, 1913
A wretched soul, bruised with adversity
We bid be quiet when we hear it cry.
But were we burdened with like weight of pain,
As much or more we should ourselves complain. William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors II i 34-37
One pain is lessened by another’s anguish. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet i ii 45, Benvolio to Romeo
There was never yet philosopher
That could endure the toothache patiently. William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing I i 52
To be, or not to be – that is the question.
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? – To die – to sleep –
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to; ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die – to sleep –
To sleep! Perchance to dream. Aye, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office...’ William Shakespeare, Hamlet, III i 56-73
The labour we delight in physics pain. William Shakespeare, Macbeth II iii 56
Tis good for men to like their present pains upon example so their spirit is eased. The Hollow Crown: Henry V starring Tim Hiddleston & Geraldine Chaplin & Paul Freeman & Julie Walters & John Hurt & Tom Georgeson & Richard Griffiths & Paterson Joseph & James Laurenson et al, director Thea Sharrock, BBC 2012
Pain pays the income of each precious thing. William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece 333
What would become of me if I tried to escape from pain? Scorn and criticism would be my only opium; unless I could fall into some kind of conceited madness, and fancy myself favourite of Heaven because I am not a favourite with men. George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss p363, Philip contemplates life without Maggie
There is much pain that is quite noiseless; and vibrations that make human agonies are often a mere whisper in the roar of hurrying existence. There are glances of hatred that stab and raise no cry of murder; robberies that leave man or woman forever beggared of peace and joy, yet kept secret by the sufferer – committed to no sound except that of low moans in the night, seen in no writing except that made on the face by the slow months of suppressed anguish and early morning tears. Many an inherited sorrow that has marred a life has been breathed into no human ear. George Eliot, Felix Holt: The Radical
Through vaults of pain,
Enribbed and wrought with groins of ghastliness,
I passed, and garish spectres moved my brain
To dire distress.
And hammerings,
And quakes, and shoots, and stifling hotness, blent
With webby waxing things and waning things
And on I went ... Thomas Hardy, A Wasted Illness
Happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain. Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge
She whose youth had seemed to teach that happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain. ibid.
After great pain, a formal feeling comes. Emily Dickinson 1830-86, American poet
What is the secret of the fakirs of the east? What gives them the power to defy hooks and spikes? Arthur C Clarke’s World of Strange Powers s1e9: Walking on Fire, ITV 1985
There’s no doubt that they do walk on fire. Why don’t they get burnt? Why do they feel no pain? ibid.
In the south Pacific, islanders amble regularly over roasting rocks. ibid.
Jo is still battling her addiction. The drug she craves is the Codeine in extra-strength painkillers. Horizon: Pill Poppers, BBC 2010
Around the world there is a remarkable group of people who hold the clue to one of Science’s greatest mysteries: pain. It can last a few seconds or stay with us for years. It is an invisible thread that runs through our lives. We try to escape it but it is essential for our survival. Now scientists are making dramatic progress in understanding what pain is. And how to treat it. Horizon: The Secret World of Pain, BBC 2011
Hundreds of genes shape how our pain system works. ibid.
For years there was no medical explanation why May Lynn and few like here around the world could not feel pain. ibid.
Neuroscientist Professor Maria Fitzgerald believes events in early childhood may hold the key to how we feel pain later in life. ibid.
But there has been one great obstacle in trying to explain pain: why does the amount of pain we feel not always reflect the injury we receive? Why is it so subjective? ibid.
How do our emotions affect how we feel pain? ... Emotions like anxiety affect our perception of pain. ibid.
Every time we feel pain it’s a completely new physical experience. ibid.
Chronic pain is one of the biggest medical health problems in the world. And affects a staggering one in five people ... The pain system gets damaged. ibid.
Every year the NHS spends over £400 million on pain killers. And as a nation we swallow almost 5 billion over-the-counter capsules. But to what extent is it the chemicals in here [points to capsule] that provide relief and to what extent is it what’s going on up here [points to head]? Horizon: Dr Michael Mosley, The Placebo Experiment: Can Me Brain Cure My Body? BBC 2018
New research shows the placebo effect is much more than wishful thinking: our brains can produce their own pain-killing chemicals, which can be more powerful than you’d every imagine. ibid.
‘There’s a lot of evidence that white and blue pills seem to have a greater analgesic effect.’ (Pain & Pills) ibid.
Could you use the placebo effect to change something which is non-medical? Could you for example use it to cure a broken heart? ibid.
It doesn’t work for everyone. ibid.
Britain is in the grip of a drug crisis: each year more than five million of us are prescribed opioids, painkillers which can be as powerful as Class A drugs. In America a prescription opioid epidemic accounts for more deaths than gun crime. Now a landmark report suggests we may also have a problem. Horizon, Dr Michael Mosley, Addicted to Painkillers? Britain’s Opioid Crisis, BBC 2020
5.6 million adults in England and Wales are currently on prescription opioids. ibid.
Acute and chronic pain are fundamentally different. ibid.
The majority of opioid prescriptions handed out are for chronic pain. ibid.
Why are they on it? Who is responsible? ibid.
These over-the-counter drugs are being abused. ibid.
A Public Health England report found that it’s people who live in deprived areas who are more likely to be prescribed opioids. ibid.